National Clothesline
MfM members learn how near failure was turned into success
Methods for Management combined forces with the Great Game of Business for a joint conference July
13-14 at the SRC Holdings headquarters in Springfield, MO.
The site was selected because SRC’s many divisions have consistently achieved the goal of the Great Game of
Business, which is to develop employees to think and act like owners, thereby
improving financial results for the company and themselves.
Diana Vollmer, president of Methods for Management, and MfM members from the
United States and Canada toured the SRC operations. SRC nearly went bankrupt in
the 1980s as a division of International Harvester until Jack Stack, author of
The Great Game of Business, and several managers saved the company from an
almost certain demise to become an internationally-renowned successful
strategic business model.
Attendees were enthusiastic in their praise of the conference.
“It is well worth attending these meetings,” said John Rudolph, CEO of Page the Cleaner of Edmonton, AL, Canada. “You always get at least one idea that returns many times the expense. The Great
Game of Business conference was a real opportunity to see open book management
in action, not just sold in a traveling seminar.
“The concepts we were exposed to may be hard for many cleaners to wrap their arms
around,” commented Kermit Engh of Fashion Cleaners and Omaha Lace. “But, our experience has been that sharing numbers makes you stronger as a
company and empowers your employees.”
As part of the agenda, MfM members took part in a management huddle and several
development game and coaching exercises, exhibiting the philosophy and
practices behind the Great Game of Business management strategies.
An employee panel and networking reception gave MfM Members the opportunity to
speak one-on-one with executives and staff members who had implemented the
principles of The Great Game of Business in a real company. They heard a
machinist talk intelligently about the pros and cons of the company debt load
and listened to a personnel director who was interested in future markets for
the products.
Day Two of the conference followed MfM’s TC Management Bureau meeting structure, including a focused discussion lead by
Vollmer about how the Great Game’s business model can be applied to the members’ individual businesses to make them more profitable.
For more information about MfM, call (253) 851-6327 or e-mail DVollmer@MFMI.com.
